Registration required:
Online, 5 sessions / $325
Registration begins 08.01.25
This crash course reading-and-discussion seminar considers the bold and thrilling project of beginning, treating the poets‘ first book not just as a collection, but as a philosophical and stylistic gesture of possibility. We'll look at how five major modern and contemporary poets structured their debuts as introductions, how emotional arcs and formal decisions take shape in these works, and how a book’s “argument” unfolds across pages. We’ll dig deeper into what troubles the poet into words and what it means to begin. We’ll read generously, with attention to voice, arrangement, and the risks writers take when putting a first book into the world. Expect to read closely, think structurally, and write your way toward new insights—about poetry, authorship, and the art of beginning.
Crash Course seminars require outside reading of assigned texts. After enrolling, students should plan to access (purchase or borrow) the following texts in time to read them ahead of class sessions. Enrolled students should join the first session having read the first title listed below.
Reading List:
- Jack Spicer, After Lorca
- Ed Roberson, When Thy King Is a Boy
- Carolyn Forché, Gathering the Tribes
- Dunya Mikhail, The War Works Hard
- Srikanth Reddy, Facts for Visitors
Class modality: Online synchronous (real-time attendance required)
Class size: 8 to 25 students
Required textbooks: Yes
Recorded: Yes
In-class & prompted writing: Yes
Workshopping & feedback: No
Ricardo Alberto Maldonado is the author of The Life Assignment (Four Way Books, 2020), a finalist for the Poetry Society of America’s Norma Farber First Book Award, one of Remezcla’s Best Books by Latina or Latin American Authors, and Silver Medalist for the Juan Felipe Herrera Best Poetry Book Award. He is also the translator of Dinapiera Di Donato’s Colaterales/Collateral (National Poetry Series / Akashic Books, 2013) and coeditor of Puerto Rico en mi corazón (Anomalous Press, 2019). He served as the codirector of 92NY’s Unterberg Poetry Center and President and Executive Director of the Academy of American Poets. Author photo by Eric McNatt.
A limited number of need-based scholarships are available to cover the enrollment costs of Poetry Society classes. To receive and fill out a scholarship survey, email parker@poetrysociety.org.
